People of the Night
by justwaittilligetthrough
Summary: Sam was a cynic who didn't believe in love. Mercedes was a victim that didn't believe in anyone. Everything about them was different, but all it took was one look to connect them forever.


_**Night, the beloved. Night, when words fade and things come alive. When the destructive analysis of day is done, and all that is truly important becomes whole and sound again… ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry**_

Sam didn't believe in love at first sight.

Who did, anyway? That kind of thinking was for the movies and teenaged girls—not grown men. Especially Sam Evans, Ohio State's best attorney and professional pessimist. He didn't have time for love or smiling or family, not when he was stressed out beyond belief on a daily basis. He was sort of an alcoholic too, but all lawyers were. Sam had a few friends: Noah Puckerman, a partner to the law firm they owned, and Mike Chang, who was an associate to the firm. The three of them had been friends for quite some time, but unlike Sam, both were very happy in their lives. At least their love lives weren't nonexistent like Sam's was.

Puck screwed anything that looked like a girl and Mike was in a long term relationship with a girl he knew from high school. Sam, at the age of 30, was relationship-less and a huge cynic. He lived in a penthouse condo, courtesy of hard work and lots of cases, and owned no pets. Sam had lived alone since he left his dorm in college, ten years ago. This was good, because Sam hated people and he barely liked the friends he had.

Sam didn't care too much for women or the problems that inevitably came with them. He didn't have time for that. And if he did he doubted that he'd waste it like that. If he were as colorful as Puck was with his words, 'Fuck bitches get money' would be his motto. He thought it enough anyway.

It wasn't like Sam hadn't tried getting into relationships, he did, it just never worked out. Quite frankly he was sick of trying. Sam put his all into everything he did, and he was tired of his hard work not paying off. His parents had been urging him to settle down for the last two years and it was getting to a breaking point. He understood where they were coming from—having settled with each other after their high school glory days—but Sam was nothing like his parents. Not in that way, at least.

And with time, Sam had become quite picky. If he was going to dive into a relationship anytime soon, it would be on his terms. He wasn't like the people that had lists of turn ons and turn offs. His list was mental, and more of a qualifications thing. The next girl who jumped in his sheets was going to have to earn it. She had to be relatively attractive and not broke—Sam didn't care how shallow it sounded. He could look past a lot of things, but if she wasn't easy on the eyes and didn't have a job, well, time would only make things worse.

The woman that Sam would dedicate himself to would have to have a mind and life of her own. She would not be a whimpering, pathetic mess of a person. She would be a respectable person in public but a freak when the time called for it, and she would not pressure him into anything. No kids, no jumping into marriage blindly for the sake of it, no faking around friends, no to all of that. Just no.

And this woman would preferably be a brunette with a nice tan and curves. No skinny blondes and no skinny pale skinned women. He had been there, done that and he was not feeling up to starting a relationship with anyone who already didn't fit his criteria's.

If he could find someone that met his requirements Sam would gladly wife that girl up. Alas, that had yet to happen. Not to say that it surprised him. People sucked. Sam always went back to the same thought following this that perhaps it would be easier if he were gay. Then he immediately remembered who he had for friends so, probably not.

Forget not believing in love at first sight, Sam was coming to terms that love might not exist at all. Not in the romantic sense, at least. He would like to say that his parents were a good testament to true love and all that nonsense, but he couldn't. They droned on and on all the time about their undying love for each other when Sam knew better. His mom got pregnant with him right after high school and that was it for the rest of their lives. Did they love each other? Of course. Did they love each other romantically?

He wasn't sure.

"Sam." Puckerman's irritated voice interrupted his thoughts. "Quit daydreaming. We have a client and this is serious. Probably our biggest case of the year so far."

Sam wanted to snap at him for his blatant disrespect, but decided against it. Puck disrespected him on a daily basis, and there were urgent matters to deal with. _Probably our biggest case of the year so far…_

"Who's the client?"

Puck slides a folder thick with files and information on their client. "A girl. Eighteen. She's almost out of high school and she was in the running for Salutatorian, but probably won't be any more due to all this drama going on in her life. Decent family…well, for the most part. She doesn't have any siblings. No boyfriends, just a best friend named Kurt."

Sam nodded good naturedly, taking the information in whilst going through the folder Puck had given him. Odd. There were her transcripts and birth certificate and basically her whole high school career laid out to him, but there weren't any photos.

"So what is it?"

"It's a child molestation case." Puck said quietly, to which Sam visibly flinched. He hated these cases.

To Sam, child molestation was probably the worse type of crime he had to take to trial. It was always uncomfortable and always sad, but most importantly it always pissed him off. All these crimes always stemmed from neglect in one form or the other, because the mother/guardian never realized what was going on. Or they were in denial, or weren't around to see it happening until it was too late. Or didn't care.

Either way, it was disgusting.

"Oh." Sam's shoulders slumped.

"Yeah."

They sat in silence for a moment while Sam wrapped his mind around the reality of doing another emotionally draining case. Finally Sam had to ask, "What makes this the biggest case of the year though?"

Puck smiled, and that bothered Sam deeply because there was nothing to smile about in a situation like this. "Well this victim didn't lie down and take it. She is not a damsel in distress in any sense. She's a fighter."

Sam had to smile despite his best efforts because anyone with enough guts to face their worst enemy was heroic in his book. "That is definitely admirable. But did she do something other than fight the offender off? What makes this the biggest case of the year?"

Puck coughed and nervously scratched his scalp. "Like I said, she didn't lie down and take it. She's a fighter, Sam."

He was starting to get impatient. "Yes I know, you've said that already. What did she _do _Puck?"

"You know," Puck deflects, "She had plans on going to a music college somewhere? She's a straight A student with a lot going for her. It's a shame really. Her family isn't full of deadbeats, just sickos and psychos. Specifically her father."

Sam cringed at the statement about this girl's father and what it implied. Sick. "But what did she do Puck?"

Puck looked up at the ceiling and mumbled something so softly Sam couldn't hear it.

"What did you say?"

"I was just talking about Mercedes again." Puck replied with a shrug.

At the glare Sam shot him for dodging his earlier question he begrudgingly sighed. "Sam," He said looking straight at him now. "She killed him. She killed her father."

* * *

**This is something I've been working on for months. Not in length, obviously, but the idea. I **_**am not **_**an attorney myself. I don't know all the correct terminologies and it probably shows. Considering that I haven't updated lately or published any works in a while I figured I should put this out. Daydream is still a work in progress, but I already have the end in sight. So when that ends this will take its place. Though I'm not entirely sure because this will not be nearly as long as Daydream's getting. Hopefully.**

**If you like this concept and want to read more in the future, please review! I love to hear all of your thoughts! **


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